Outlaws and Bandits

Whenever someone says the word bandit, I am always brought back to my childhood hearing tales of the noble, fantastic and generous Robin Hood! And the phrase ‘Steals from the rich and gives to the poor’
But recently my childhood fantasies have been blemished by research in this area. This is a webpage that has much information about the myth and true life of Robin Hood:

http://www.robinhood.ltd.uk/robinhood/index.html

Other such bandit heroes are Jesse James, Phoolan Devi, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie & Clyde, Ned Kelly and Billy the Kid.
These people were seen as pre-modern social movers and often it has been found that they were actually not so much the good ‘dooers ‘ that they have been historically remembered as. They typically would not steal from their own village people, but would still steal from poor individuals from the neighbouring villages.

Another type of outlaw and bandit that is widely known is the typical character played out in the Western genres. Such cowboy heroes as John Wayne and Clint Eastward could well be representing the old time outlaws, if you watch the early Westerns the hero character is definitely depicted as courageous, brave and someone to aspire to. However the 1992 'Unforgiven' depicts the hero character as much more of a villain and it has not glorified the role. I find that this film could be the perfect example for removing the glamour of being an outlaw, a bandit and shows life as it probably would have been.